Photo: Youths wait in line to return to their dorms at the Pahokee Youth Development Center, a facility run by James F. Slattery's company in the late 1990s. Pahokee faced criticism for a high incidence of abuse and violence. Credit: (The Palm Beach Post / ZUMA Press)

We are living in boom times for the private prison industry. The Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), the nation's largest owner of private prisons, has seen its revenue climb by more than 500 percent in the last two decades. And CCA wants to get much, much bigger: Last year, the company made an offer to 48 governors to buy and operate their…Read More

From a glance at his background, one might assume that James F. Slattery would have a difficult time convincing any state in America to entrust him with the supervision of its lawbreaking youth. Over the past quarter century, Slattery’s for-profit prison enterprises have run afoul of the Justice Department and authorities in New York, Florida,…Read More